RAF Sawbridgeworth

RAF Sawbridgeworth
Two RAF North American Mustang Mark Is (AG550 ‘XV-U’ and AM112 ‘XV-X’) of No. 2 Squadron RAF based at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, in flight over Cambridgeshire. AG550 is being flown by Wing Commander A.J.W. Geddes, the squadron commander.
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type		Military
Owner		Ministry of Defence
Operator		Royal Air Force
Location		Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire
Built		1917
In use		1917-1946
Elevation AMSL		289 ft / 88 m
Coordinates		51°50′26″N 000°06′59″E
Map
RAF Sawbridgeworth Location in Hertfordshire
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
130/310	5,100	1,558	Sommerfeld Tracking
60/240	4,200	1,280	Sommerfeld Tracking
10/190	2,700	822	Sommerfeld Tracking

Royal Air Force Station Sawbridgeworth or RAF Sawbridgeworth is a former Royal Air Force station located 5.2 miles (8.4 km) north of Harlow, Essex and 14.4 miles (23.2 km) east of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England.

The airfield opened in 1917 and was used during the first world war. During the inter war period it was occasionally used for glider and civilian flying until 1937 when it became Advanced Landing Ground Matthams Wood (after the woods in the middle of the station) and was placed under the control of the much larger RAF North Weald. In 1940 it was renamed to RAF Sawbridgeworth after a phone call between the station Commanding Office Wing Commander AJW Geddes and the air ministry. Mainly concerned with photo-reconnaissence into occupied France and the Low Countries, it ceased active operations in 1944 and was disposed of by the RAF in May 1946.

Station history

First World War

The airfield was used during the First World War as a Night Landing ground for No 39 (Home Defence) Squadron who were based at North Weald in Essex.

Second World War

During the Second World War a number of units were based at the airfield (some are shown below). The commanding officer of 2 (AC) Squadron instigated the settlement of the squadron at Mathams Wood ALG after the retreat from France in 1940 when no permanent base was available for the squadron. Thus 2 (AC) Squadron was the unit that established the Second World War airfield that became Sawbridgeworth in early correspondence with the Air Ministry, the squadron was also responsible for the initial selection and early training of pilots to be used by the Special Operations Executive to insert agents into Occupied France. The majority of operations from Sawbridgeworth were photo-reconnaissance missions and generally linked to Army requests for battlefield coverage, but as the German V-weapon programme intensified more and more sorties were flown against these targets and various radar installations. (see 'Where the Lysanders were .....' for precise details).

• No. 2 Squadron RAF.
• No. 4 Squadron RAF.
• No. 63 Squadron RAF.
• No. 80 Squadron RAF.
• No. 126 Squadron RAF.
• No. 168 Squadron RAF.
• No. 170 Squadron RAF.
• No. 182 Squadron RAF.
• No. 268 Squadron RAF.
• No. 1495 (TT) Flight.
• No. 247 Maintenance Unit RAF.

Squadrons

Squadron	Identification	Equipment	From	To	To
No. 63 Squadron	Unknown	North American P-51 Mustang IA	12 November 1943	30 November 1943	RAF North Weald
No. 80 Squadron	W2	Supermarine Spitfire VB	24 April 1944	5 May 1944	RAF Hornchurch
No. 126 Squadron	5J	Supermarine Spitfire VB Supermarine Spitfire VC Supermarine Spitfire IXB	30 April 1944 30 April 1944 30 April 1944	30 April 1944 30 April 1944 22 May 1944	RAF Culmhead
No. 168 Squadron	Unknown	North American P-51 Mustang IA	12 November 1943	30 November 1943	RAF North Weald
No. 170 Squadron	Unknown	North American P-51 Mustang IA	12 November 1943	15 January 1944	Disbanded
No. 182 Squadron	XM	Hawker Typhoon IA/IB	7 December 1942 20 January 1943	17 January 1943 30 January 1943	RAF Snailwell RAF Martlesham Heath
No. 268 Squadron	Unknown	North American P-51 Mustang IA	1 March 1944	26 March 1944	RAF Dundonald

Note: for full details of the tenure by 2 (AC) Squadron at Sawbridgeworth see 'Second to None', Onderwater H Pub: Airlife, and 'Where the Lysanders were .....'

Current use

A number of pill boxes are the only indication that there used to be anything to do with the military here. The control tower was demolished in 1946 along with the Sommerfeld tracking runways to allow the land to be farmed again. This means that modern aerial shots of the airfield do not show the outline of runways unlike the nearby RAF Hunsdon and RAF Matching site. The only indication of the extent of the airfield is the outer perimeter road that is still visible.

In the surrounding area there are still many of the outlying buildings such as the medical facility buildings that have become a small industrial estate. Other buildings have become agricultural buildings.

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

Bibliography

• Jefford, C.G, MBE,BA ,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.

'Where the Lysanders were ....' (the story of Sawbridgeworths' airfields) Doyle Paul A, pub; Forward Airfield Research Publishing 1995. ISBN 09525 624 05